Should've Been Lily [Eevachu + Chaos James][Skyreach]

As Nicholas called out the Pols Voice, Rika jumped back in surprise, turning his attention to the rabbit-like creatures. The Hylian leaped forward, his fist impacting the Pols Voice and sending it flying. However, it bounced off the wall like rubber, pouncing back in the direction of Nicholas aggressively. Rika smirked as Nicholas inquired about what they were, as if he already knew. "It's simple Nicholas, they're Pols Voice. Brute force won't take them down, but they're quite simple, they hate loud noises. Let me show you." As he finished speaking, a clear orb of liquid formed in his hand, pointed in the direction of the Pols Voice. As he was prepared to fire, however, something broke his concentration from behind. Jumping back to distance himself from the Pols Voice had brought him closer to another statue, which left him closer to another hole. As the orb of water started to leave his fingertips, Rika heard the aggressive chomping of a Deku Baba from behind him.

Jumping to the side in surprise, the Aqua Grenade went flying off course, slamming into nearby statues and destroying them. The Deku Baba behind Rika leaped directly out in surprise, its plant cranium almost larger than the hole itself. Grabbing his remaining dagger, Rika quickly withdrew it and sliced the extended stem, killing the Deku Baba. He had enough of these surprise attacks. As he brought himself back to his feet, Rika realized what he had done. His Aqua Grenade had not only missed the Pols Voice, but destroyed a small handful of statues, ones which were likely pivotal to solving the puzzle. The Pols Voice seemed to squeal and squirm in pain, as if the explosion and destruction had caused them clear physical injury and discomfort.

". . . Well, I suppose we don't need these anymore." Rika muttered to Nicholas, disgruntled by his destruction of the statues. It was a fairly simple puzzle anyway, not something he would have gotten much joy from solving. In fact, destroying the statues would prove to be far more fun to Rika- Not that he came to this tower to have fun in the first place. At the very least, he wouldn't have to deal with Deku Baba jumping out and surprising him every time he tried to look at something or cast a spell.

As Nicholas let out a bellowing cry and decimated the statue with his shadow punch, Rika couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, I guess if they're not useful. . ." He muttered, drawing his scythe as the distant Pols Voice squirmed in agony. Extending his scythe, a chilling frost echoed across the pole from the tips of his fingers, pulsating across the scythe a couple times before eventually enveloping it, granting it an icy aura. Dashing forward, the Kokiri leaped across the Pols Voice, attempting to spin as he neared them. Pushing off with his feet, he made a single twirl, this time careful not to trip and fall like before. The blade spun along with him and tore against the Pols Voice, a frigid crash echoing throughout the room as his blade struck. Their normally impenetrable, squishy bodies were weakened by the powerful crashes and noises previously thrown throughout the room, allowing his blade to slice through the rabbits where it once wouldn't.

As Rika finished his twirl and passed through the Pols Voice, he unwillingly spun a second time, running straight into a statue and bouncing onto the ground. "Ugh. . . I hate these statues." Rika groaned as he brought himself back to his feet. He was having difficulty not running into the statues here, but at least a Deku Baba didn't attack him from this one. "That spinning is harder than I thought. . . You'll have to tell me how you do it, Nicholas." As he finished speaking, Rika glanced back at the switch and then towards the fan. "Well, so much for that trick. . . Though I am curious where it would lead. . . Hmm. . . " Rika thought for a moment before walking in the direction of the fan, getting closer to it. Stepping to the side and holding his palm out, a flurry of wind started to generate in his hand, before he unleashed it at the fan. In response, the fan blew wildly for several seconds, but eventually started to settle down; however, the effects of the fan were still clear. A powerful churning of wind was heard from outside the room, likely from the large fan in the center. It seemed to start fading to its previous level of power a few seconds after the fan in the room stopped spinning. A wide grin formed on Rika's face as he heard this, and he joyfully exclaimed, "I was right!"

After a couple moments, he came to the realization he would likely have to explain what he meant to Nicholas, and began. "So, know how I said the fan outside looked weak? I'm pretty sure spinning this fan caused the fan in the room to spin faster. Sadly, we can't power it up anymore, but I think I can give it a strong spin to let us use it. Get ready to jump in the center of the previous room." Holding out his palm, Rika channeled a ball of wind and launched it at the fan. Then again. And again. He did this about four times, before it had started spinning faster than before. "Alright, go now!" He shouted to Nicholas. Rika would remain and cast one final Wind spell on it, to provide distance between himself and Nicholas, then run into the room after him.

As Nicholas finished his explanation, Rika nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I'll have to see how you do it." It was then that Rika's plan was put into action. After Nicholas exited the room, all that was left to do was for Rika to make his way out, but he would have to be quick. As the ball of wind left his fingertips, Rika rushed towards the door, ignoring what the ball of wind may have done once it left his fingers. He pushed himself to the side to avoid stone blocks and leaped over rubble caused by the destruction of the statues; his goal was to run out of the door, and it was all that mattered. Luckily for him, he wasn't attacked by any Deku Baba, as he paid no mind to the status of the statues he passed.

He quickly broke out of the door, rushing into the main room only to see the swirling vortex of wind lifting whatever was around it high into the air. He had to hold his hat just to prevent it from flying away before he even jumped. With one powerful leap, Rika dove into the wind, his body being lifted and carried high into the air. One hand was on his head, holding his hat down, and the other gripped his scythe, which he was still holding onto. As he seemed to reach the climax of the wind, he could see Nicholas holding his hand out to grab him. However, the wind was weaker for Rika; it was clear to him that he would not reach the appropriate height to grab Nicholas's hand. Soon, it seemed as if he was about to fall, but he would have to if he wanted to survive and save the forest. Pushing his feet off of the air, Rika leaped into the air a second time, extending not his hand, but his scythe. In response, Nicholas grabbed on to the scythe with his metal arm and flung the Kokiri upward, pulling him higher into the air and onto the platform. The Kokiri was close to falling back down onto the fan blades, but managed to make it by a hair.

"Well, let's not do that again. . . " Rika grunted as he composed himself and looked around. The ledge they were on seemed to zoom upward for an undiscernable distance, similar to a spiral staircase. "Well, looks like we have to do this manually now. . . " Rika muttered, upset as he began walking.

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After several minutes of walking, the duo found themselves higher than before. They had stopped because there was a gaping hole in the side of the tower. Well, it was more like a pathway than anything, but it appeared more like a hole. Taking a few deep, exhausted breaths, Rika leaned against the wall. "Let's. . . rest a few minutes before investigating." Forming a small, aqueous orb in his hand, Rika lightly punctured it, taking a drink from the magical, inert Aqua Grenade. If Nicholas desired a drink, Rika would provide him with one, but he did not directly offer.

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After a brief period of respite, the duo was prepared to continue down the tunnel. At first, it was dark, with the only source of light being Rika's Will-o-Wisp. It seemed to be flat and straight, and there were no intrusions as it seemed. After a few moments of heading down the tunnel, they started to see the shining of natural sunlight. Stepping out, they were met with outside of the tower. A vast, wooden patio-like area rest in the side of the tower; it was several dozen feet in radius and mostly flat. They had ascended past the height of the normal trees by now, proving just how massive the tower was. They could also tell that they still had a long way to climb before they reached the top. "Nice view, I guess. . . " Rika commented as he began to think about the purpose of such an area.

As soon as he started thinking, however, his question was answered. With a powerful, chilling screech, five Aeralfos dove down onto the platform and landed in front of Rika and Nicholas. They were all equipped with iron bucklers, and wielded a variety of weapons. One of the Aeralfos wielded a thick longsword, while two others wielded long reaching spears. Another held a bulky club-like weapon, while the final one was unarmed. The unarmed Aeralfos and one of the lance wielding Aeralfos appeared to have strange bags attached to their thick leather hides, something the other three did not possess. They appeared to be challenging the duo, and after screeching once more in unison, ascended to the air ready to attack immediately. Rika smirked at the challenge, a look of enjoyment passing over his face. Even in such a serious moment as this, he still valued a good battle. Then, his eyes glanced toward Nicholas. "Why don't you show me that Spinny Attack? I'll follow you after that and try it myself." This was perfect in Rika's mind. It was a battle with enemies powerful enough to allow him to test a new technique out, rather than his technique killing his opponent even with a pitiful mistake.

Rika grimaced slightly as Nicholas brutally tore through the air and slammed both himself and the Aeralfos. Rika was rather impressed he had the balls to charge one of the Aeralfos despite the other four swarming in the air around him, it was exactly what he had come to expect from Nicholas. However, Rika wasn't sure if the plan was a smart one. Nicholas had managed to temporarily immobilize one of the five Aeralfos, but in doing so, immobilized himself. As he called out to Rika in a dazed manner after performing a classic Nicholas maneuver, Rika proceeded to perform a classic Rika maneuver. "Hahaha," he laughed, continuing, "you really want that sword, don't you? Fine, you gave me just the right challenge. Take your time getting your sword." He commanded to Nicholas, before turning to the hovering Aeralfos.

Taking a closer look at the four Aeralfos and their equipment, it seemed somewhat poor of quality. Well, it was to be expected, considering they were in a newly constructed tower of pure malice. Their weapons all appeared to be somewhat shoddily crafted out of wood, the bark clearly not of the quality or strength of the tower's wood. In terms of equipment and ability, he likely held the advantage over every one of them, but they had two powerful advantages of their own; flight and numbers. Still though, as long as he fought smart and didn't waste his abilities, it was possible for Rika to come out the victor. First, he would have to do something about those spears; though shoddy, they possessed the ability to destroy the advantage his reach and range brought, unlike the club or unarmed Aeralfos. He wasn't entirely sure what other abilities they possessed, but there was no reason to worry about it for now.

The four Aeralfos hovered in place, seemingly focused on Rika, whether out of a sense of honor for Nicholas's request for a one-on-one duel or if they saw Rika as easy prey to gang up on. I guess they were waiting on him to make the first move. Reaching for his dagger, with a swift flick of the wrist it left his palms, but not before a light, chilling aura enveloped the blade, signifying it was enchanted with the Ice Enchantment. It flew straight at one of the spear wielding Aeralfos, who tried to deflect it with his shield. However, upon impact, the dagger exploded in ice, freezing his hands and equipment. The Aeralfos hissed in shock and dropped both his weapons, the buckler and spear falling to the floor with a crash and a clang. As he did this, the unarmed Aeralfos took the opportunity to try to dive him from behind. Spinning around and gripping his scythe, Rika rushed forward as it approached, channeling energy like with Ice Enchantment into his scythe; however, this time it was not the chilling aura such as before. Pushing himself with his leg, he spun as he ran, and though it was not entirely perfect, it was far better than before. The wave of energy swung around his body with the scythe, causing the Aeralfos to back up in retaliation to avoid the damage. Finishing his spin, Rika pointed his palm in the direction of the dropped equipment. A glowing, golden circle formed underneath the location of the spear and buckler, and the Aeralfos who had been attempting to retrieve it suddenly retreated back into the air, as if he had an idea what was about to happen. Moments later, a massive, wooden spire tore through the ground, ripping the spear apart and bending and breaking the shield, sending it flying off of the tower side.

Now unarmed, the Aeralfos began to swarm Rika, waiting for the slightest hint of an opening. They were aware they couldn't dive in recklessly, but Rika couldn't afford to attack wastefully either. One small error would spell execution for the one who made it.

As Nicholas waged a brutal fist fight with an Aeralfos, Rika was locked in a stalemate with the Aeralfos. Perhaps they were dumber than they were acting. . .? A small grin flashing across his face for just a moment, Rika's voice was raised as he spoke. "What's with all this flying? Are you guys dumb in the head or something? Come on, you outnumber me, why don't you just attack? Are you scared of me? I don't blame you." The Aeralfos hissed at his comments but didn't respond, causing Rika to frown. They weren't even willing to toy with his bait, how unamusing. "Fine, if you won't, I guess I will. . ." He muttered under his breathe, as flames started to erupt from the tip of his scythe, launching in a ball of fire towards one of the Aeralfos. Seemingly adapting from his speared brother's folly, the Aeralfos flew to the side to avoid it, rather than attempting to block it. His movement was small as to not break formation or leave a gap for Rika to take advantage of, showing their intelligence in actions.

However, this only played right in Rika's hands. It was exactly how he had expected them to adapt, and made things easy for him. Of course, if they were stupider and tried to assault him all at once this battle would be far easier for him. Even without that lack of intelligence, however, they were not smart enough to defeat Rika; their adaptations and patterns were clean and without error, but predictable, which made them easy to abuse for someone like Rika, and his test just now proved that. With a few quick, fluid motions, Rika would act. First, he would hold his hand up in the air. A vicious orb of wind cycled in his palm and launched up at the Aeralfos. It didn't matter which one it was aimed at, so long as they reacted as he predicted. Immediately following just behind the Wind was a clear orb of water, difficult to discern behind the fast moving ball of wind. As the wind ball left his hand, Rika darted forward. Three of the Aeralfos began to dart after him, seeing it as an opening, but the fourth Aeralfos wielding the club hovered back slightly to avoid the Wind spell, which is just what Rika had planned.

He was completely caught off guard by the violent release of water pressure a couple feet in front of him, the water piercing and destroying his body. The other three Aeralfos who had attempted to pursue Rika turned back in surprise at what had happened; they didn't expect a second, exploding spell underneath the first Wind spell. The body, badly injured and damaged, instantly collapsed to the ground; his wings were completely pierced by the spell's effect, so regardless of his condition flight was impossible. He was critically injured, if not dead within moments of hitting the ground, and regardless of whether he would survive in the future, any actions he could take in combat would likely end him. The Kokiri was momentarily free from the circling Aeralfos as he darted away, creating more distance from Nicholas. As he ran, he called behind him directed at the Aeralfos once more, this time with a glee filled smile stretching across his face, "You know, if you just keep trying the same thing you'll never win, I can just do that again soon!" He mocked his enemies as he ran, not necessarily in an attempt to anger them but more out of enjoyment for himself. This was the most fun Rika had in weeks, but hopefully they would adapt in a less predictable way next time.

Rika momentarily forgot Nicholas had been doing something, the thought of the Hylian slipping his mind. "Oh, Nicholas, you're ready to join the fight? You're free to take your time." He commented, his eyes glancing in the direction Nicholas stood for but a brief moment before his attention returned back to the Aeralfos and he continued. "Well, I'm glad you got your toy." As he finished speaking, it was time to strike. There were three Aeralfos left; one was unarmed, one wielded a simple banded iron shield, and one wielded a wooden spear. It would be difficult for the unarmed Aeralfos to defend from his attacks, and also for the weaponless Aeralfos. He would have to worry about the speared Aeralfos retaliating, but he wanted to go on the offensive now that their numbers had dwindled and Nicholas had joined the fight.

"Hey Nicholas, make sure the spear guy doesn't stab me in the ass." Rika ordered before proceeding to do what he had in mind. Though the spinning he had exhibited wasn't bad, surely there was a little more to it than simply spinning around. After all, Nicholas was able to spin in midair and propel himself higher, something he couldn't do merely by spinning. Perhaps he would have to put a more magical touch on it than he had previously done. Looking directly at the unarmed Aeralfos, Rika rushed forward, pushing himself off the ground as he leaped into the air. Taking a second step and jumping once more, Rika was far closer to the Aeralfos than he had been previously.

The other two attempted to stop him, though hopefully Nicholas would deal with the spear wielder. Now, he just had to exert magic to give him a sort of push. Channeling magic through his scythe as he held it overhead, an aura of energy surged through the metal and the blade for but a brief second, before he attempted to exert magical energy from the back of the blade. It was something that, in theory, should be simple for him with his many years of magical experience, but applying it in a unique scenario for the first time still left a little room for error. As the energy left his scythe, he felt himself thrust forward, his body spinning multiple times as he zoomed through the Aeralfos. It was unable to dodge the attack as the scythe's blade and energy cut through the flying lizard, leaving a fatal slice across its upper body. As the Kokiri passed by, he spun again, and another time. He spun a few times too many.

He found himself tumbling to the ground, rolling a couple times as he landed until eventually he was flat on his back. The Kokiri let out a groan at the rocky land, bringing his head up to leave him sitting. He didn't feel especially dizzy compared to the time before, and it was an effective enough attack, but there was room for improvement. The magical energy required to propel himself was relatively minor, and he used far too much in his spin. As such, the spin, while fast, was uncontrollable and dizzying, leaving him tumbling to the ground. He was lucky he didn't injure himself with the landing more than anything. The spear Aeralfos didn't stab him in the back, so something must have stopped him, whether it was Nicholas or the fact that Rika had energy and metal swirling around him to prevent access. Either way, Nicholas could be tagged in for a few moments, he couldn't hog all the fun. At least, that's the excuse he made for himself to ignore the rough landing he just had.

Rika realized his hands were empty. "Oh." He said, squeezing them as if to show himself there was nothing in his palms. Landing several feet away from him was his scythe, which he must have dropped during the attack. "Lucky it didn't fly off the edge. . . " He thought to himself as he looked over toward it somewhat absentmindedly, still a little shook up from the landing. Though he didn't sustain any major injuries, such as a twisted or broken limb, it still shook him up somewhat, and likely gave him a bruise or two that would be awful the following day. Looking back in front of him, he was a bloodied Aeralfos crawling in his direction. It was about fifteen feet away, and behind him Nicholas went fist to fist with another Aeralfos.

"Oh." He spoke again plainly, as if confirming the situation to himself. The Aeralfos seemed to be lacking his spear, leaving them both without their long, polearm weapons. It was clear that the Aeralfos wouldn't last much longer, and that it would perish regardless of the outcome. Yet, despite this, it still continued to fight, for some purpose. "Heh. . . Hehehehe. . . " Rika started laughing to himself as he pushed himself to his feet, staggering back and forth dizzily. He wasn't in a particularly good condition to fight either, this would be such a sloppy fight for him. Reaching down into the small pouch gripped within his scaly hand, the Aeralfos swiped his other hand forward at Rika, sending a handful of some sort of powder like substance out.

"Wha-" Rika stammered out as the powder abruptly exploded, sending a wave of force outward that knocked Rika to the ground, causing him to slam into the floor. He let out a grunt of pain as he hit the hard wood floor. What did he just use? Rika was confused but he couldn't think straight, his head was dazed and spinning. It was like a bomb, but he hadn't been shredded apart; in fact, it seemed not to hurt him in the slightest. The Aeralfos kept limping over to him, now a few feet from the Kokiri.

"You wanna fight? Well, you did wait your turn. . ." He spat out as he tried to push himself up. The Aeralfos swung his arm at Rika, smacking him across the face and sending him back on the ground. He was weakened, so the blow lacked the strength one would normally expect from an Aeralfos. However, Rika's condition made it more effective than it would normally be. Letting out a light groan as he lifted his head and glanced at the Aeralfos, he spoke. "Okay, my turn. . . " His leg shot out as the Aeralfos neared him, hit foot kicking the Aeralfos in the shin. The lizard was unable to defend against his attack, even from its light hit, and fell to its knees. "Now get ready for this!" He shouted, thrusting his fist forward. As he swung forward to punch, a flaming orb of fire formed at the ends of his white knuckles, launching out as his fist made contact with the Aeralfos' face. While his punch wasn't particularly strong, the ball of Fire was. It sent the Aeralfos flying back and off its feet, falling on its back a couple feet away as if he had delivered a strong uppercut. Holding his hand after, a large circle formed underneath the Aeralfos. Mere moments later, a massive, wooden spire shot out of the floor and skewered the Aeralfos, certainly and brutally bringing an end to its life.

As Rika sat there, victorious, he saw a small sack in front of him. That was what the Aeralfos pulled that powder out of. . . He was still too disoriented to think about it, he would look at it later. Smacking the pouch and wrapping it in his fingers, he looked over to Nicholas to see if his battle with the final Aeralfos had ended.

Rika let out a light chuckle as Nicholas called the fight they had fun. He couldn't do anything except agree. "Yeah, it was great." Somewhere inside of him, Rika felt bad for enjoying the fight he just had. He's fighting to save his forest, and countless lives are in his hands. Was it wrong for him to find such enjoyment in place as vile and wretched as this tower, in a battle to determine everyone's fates? It wasn't something he could help, intense battles like that are what he loved most of all. If he saved everyone in the process, was there really anything wrong with it? Rika pondered over it for a moment for letting out an audible sigh. It was not worth thinking about, he was too exhausted to think anyway.

Letting his head hang back, his eyes trailed up the side of the tower until they reached the top. "Man, we're so high up but the top is still so far away!" Rika complained somewhat over-exaggeratedly, continuing, "It would've been great if we could have gotten that fan working properly, but now we have to walk all the way up. . . Well, who knows how far it would have taken us anyway, I doubt it'd be to the top of the tower." He scoffed as he finished. Who built those fans anyway? It's a strange device for a place like this. "By the way," Rika called out to Nicholas, "I figured out your dumb spin trick. It was really easy." He plainly said, leaving his head hanging back as he stared into the sky.

He really just wanted to rest for a bit, then they could continue onward. It wasn't like they could leave, anyway.

About half an hour passed as the duo rested and recovered their energy, sitting mostly silent in the warm mid afternoon sunlight. Despite the atrocities happening within the forest, it was a peaceful day. The warm sunlight beat down on them as the clouds lazily drifted across the sky, making the previously hectic and battle filled arena they were in feel relaxing and calm. Having retrieved his scythe and dagger, the duo continued their way up the tower.

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The climbing never ended. They had wrapped around the interior walls of the tower dozens upon dozens of times now. The length of which they had been at this had faded from Rika's mind; was it a few hours they had been at this, or perhaps even longer? His legs felt like they were melting, even with the breaks they had taken throughout their climb. There was the occasional enemy encounter flying in the air as they rose closer to the top, but they were nothing particularly strong or difficult for the duo to defeat. Occasionally the path had spots where there were minor breaks, but it was easily passed with the possession of Double Jump. It seemed like their climb would truly be eternal.

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Their quest had ended. It appeared like they had reached a ceiling, and the pathway lead up into a small hole in the ceiling. "Ugh, finally, I think I'm ready for another break. . . " Rika complained as they neared the opening, breaking through into what lied above. Surprising to Rika, it was not the roof, the outside of the tower like he had expected. It was another room. His Will-o-Wisp flickered gently as he gazed around the room. It was rather dim, but his wisp wasn't the only light source in the room. Floating toward the other end of the room and glowing vibrantly and powerfully was a swirling black orb, similar to a crystal ball. It seemed to exude a sickening, malevolent aura, leaving an unsettling pit in Rika's stomach. It seemed to have numerous thick, string-like things strapped around it and holding it up. Across from it and away from Rika, there appeared to be a small handful of very weak, dim glows, as if a lightbulb was close to blowing. It was hard to tell just how large exactly the room was, as the walls extended past their visibility.

"What's going o-" Rika spoke, but was instantly cut off as a thorn covered vine shot forward, ready to grab Rika and pull him in to his doom. The Kokiri jumped back in surprise, but the vine stopped, unable to reach him while he was outside of the room. Rika was rather surprised by the presence of the vines. It was clear they were caused by the disturbances in the forest, and he thought it was possible that he would encounter them. However, he did not expect to find them at the end. Furthermore, these fines were far different from before. The other vines were slow and reacted to his movements, but this vine aggressively launched itself forward in an attempt to grapple him. Just what was that dark orb, anyway? Could it have been the cause of everything? The vines did seem to be rather intelligent, and instantly learned and adapted from anything he had done to them. It was likely some sort of powerful magic had been behind them, then. If the vines were more aggressive here than before, perhaps that was because the orb was in fact the source of their power?

Turning to face Nicholas, Rika spoke. "We've found our objective, we have to destroy that orb." He commanded clearly and without any complicated commands. "Be careful about these vines, though. If you become ensnared it's difficult to escape. They adapt very well to whatever you use, so if you do the same thing in succession it will likely fail." He gave a brief analysis of what he knew of the vines to Nicholas, which was admittedly not much. He wasn't even sure if they would be the same as before, but he was certain they would be at least as strong.

As Nicholas charged into the room, he saw the vines try to grab his arm, only to be torn by his superior strength. They had underestimated Nicholas's strength for their first attack, which made sense considering it had been dealing primarily with Kokiri. Now was no time to stand and watch, however, as Rika had to strike while Nicholas was being attacked to divert their forces. If he was being perfectly honest, however, Rika didn't see this as an ideal scenario for the two of them. He struggled to escape the grasps of the vines blocking the entrance to the Great Deku Tree, though he was trying to save another Kokiri at the time. Here, they were both in greater number and seemed to be more formidable; it would not be as easy as simply destroying it.

Despite that, Rika couldn't help but try. Keeping his scythe blade at the ready in one hand, Rika pointed his other hand forward as he stepped in. Flames channeled at his palm before firing viciously at the dark orb stationed across from him. As it flew through the air, a vine stuck out of the ground and swatted it away like an annoying fly, as expected. It certainly wouldn't be that easy. Rika sliced vines around him as he stepped forward, though it was tricky to do as they were all around him. It was likely a little more difficult for the Kokiri than the Hylian; Though Rika was smaller and more agile in size, Nicholas not only possessed more strength, but had not fought the vines before, so they likely didn't respond to his attacks the way they did Rika's, as if they knew the attributes and logistics of his attacks before they even struck.

As Rika neared closer and closer, he was now about a dozen feet from the floating orb. All he had to do was get a little closer and he could strike. At least, that was before the unfortunate happened. Rika and Nicholas would both hear a light squeak come from the room, then another, and it sounded like several different squeaks were happening at once. Looking to his side, the light of his Will-o-Wisp showed where it came from; sticking its head out of a brown and orange flower was a Mad Scrub. The room appeared to be filled with them, though they hadn't attacked yet. Mere moments after that, a single, momentary flash of light filled the room, bouncing off the walls and illuminating it. However, it didn't provide much in the way of vision, as the light was powerful and blinding, like that of a Deku Nut.

The Mad Scrubs went wild. The squeaking and squealing of Mad Scrubs bounced across the walls, the squishing of their bodies heard as they tried to run around the room in a panic, tripping and falling over vines and one another. The vines didn't seem to reach out and grab them, so they must not have been antagonistic toward the vines, but they were clearly chaotic. Did the flash of light blind them or something?

Rika clenched his forehead in agony with his one open palm, his vision blurred and fading. Well, it wasn't too detrimental, as his vision wasn't his greatest asset in the dark room anyway, but now he couldn't even see any vines. Strangely enough, as he stood still clenching his skull, the vines didn't seem to entangle him. That's when he recalled, they only seemed to be aggressive while he was moving and fighting back. It's not like it made much of a difference, though. If he stood there, nothing would be accomplished, so he would have to move eventually and they would attack then. If he tried to wait until his vision returned, it was possible a Mad Scrub would attack or slam into him, causing the vines to attack then. Either way, they were in a bad spot, but it was too late for them to retreat.